And I couldn’t help but smile as Aaron Hobbs debuted his new project, Popwreck, on Friday night at the Meadowlark. Opening an exciting three-band bill, Popwreck presented a short and spiky set of melodic punk rock tunes — some of which were familiar from singer-guitarist Hobbs’ time as Hobbs, NM.

Hobbs, NM was a criminally underrated outfit that morphed and evolved and rocked out, under most rock fans’ radars sadly. Sometimes it was Hobbs on his own, and oftentimes he’d play with an entire band. There was never an official album release that I can remember, but Hobbs was always generous with ripped CDs that included bare bones acoustic tracks, full band recordings and others remixed by electronic wizard JME White, who had played with Hobbs previously in Acrobat Down.

Joining Hobbs in Popwreck is Acrobat Down bassman Eliot Zizic, and their take on old Hobbs, NM jams “Asbury & High” and “Don’t Kiss Me Yet” – with help from drummer Casey Dexter – were raging, good fun. Hobbs and his tortured, sloppy tenor has always sounded like a folksy Matt Mahaffrey, who fronted the cult favorites Self. But this reinvention of Hobbs as a punk rocker – and the transformation of his contemplative musical ruminations into fast, hard and muddled ragers – works on multiple levels.

“Don’t Kiss Me Yet” is all about the space between the words, the volatile relationship between Hobbs’ voice and his acoustic guitar. “Ashbury & High” is a celebration of melody with a revelatory, sunny bridge that makes for a brilliant singalong. Played in a style that straddles punk and power pop, these songs took on a new, much briefer life. And it was lovely to have them back.